The Merger Page 20

  There was more to it. God, for the first time since he’d known her, he thought Tiffany might be right.

  “Call my dad. Get him down here.”

  Her eyes widened. “Are you kidding me? I’m not calling…”

  “Do it. I have to figure out what the hell is going on.”

  He started toward the trailer when she called to him. “Spencer, they’re going to want to talk to you.”

  “I’m a phone call away. I have a deep rooted feeling that when they go looking they’re going to want to arrest someone for arson.”

  His father’s advice ran through his head as he headed for his car, “If you can’t trust those you love most, who can you trust?”

  ~*~

  Julie had cleaned out the mailbox before reloading her suitcase in Claudia’s car. A notice from the post office that her mail was being held because the box was too full only made her more infuriated. Steven had left Oregon shortly after she had, according to the dates on the last pieces of mail delivered.

  By the time she’d lay down to sleep on Claudia’s worn out futon it was past three o’clock in the morning.

  Now it was nine-thirty in the morning and she was getting out of Claudia’s borrowed car at the post office. Fifteen minutes later she was back in the car looking at the pile of junk mail, bills, and an enormous envelope from a bank where she’d never had an account.

  Her fingers trembled as she opened the envelope with her name on it.

  It was a quarterly statement of the account. Deposits had been made on a weekly basis for almost a year. None of the deposit amounts were the same and there were no withdrawals.

  She turned the papers over and back and forth. Why was her name on this account? There was nearly sixty thousand dollars in the account.

  Throwing the papers into the passenger seat, she started the car and headed back to the corporate offices of PLL where she’d dropped Claudia off earlier.

  She parked the car out back where Claudia would park and with Claudia’s door pass she entered through the back. Julie needed to get up to legal. Maybe there was something in her office files, or in Steven’s that would give her some kind of information as to where the account came from.

  Julie had worked at PLL long enough she knew how to avoid people. After her ex-husband’s first indiscretion, she’d been successful enough to talk to nearly no one for a month. This was a skill that had certainly come in handy.

  The only person who noticed her was a janitor who gave her a nod. Chances were he never knew her enough to know she’d been fired nearly a month ago.

  Julie slipped into her old office and closed the door behind her. It seemed so foreign now. How could she feel so removed from somewhere she’d spent so many years? At that moment, she longed to be back listening to Chuck curse.

  She needed to go through her files. Julie knew she was being set up. This was what Steven had been talking about. The paper trail led to her. Well, this wasn’t how it was going to happen. No one screwed over Spencer and his family. No one.

  Julie went about looking through the drawers of her file cabinet. Files from negotiations she’d managed were right where she’d left them. Everything was color-coded and alphabetized. Drawer after drawer was just as she’d left it.

  She sat in the chair at her desk and looked around. All she needed to do was take the information to Spencer and he’d believe her. Why wouldn’t he? She’d told him she loved him and she meant it.

  That’s what she’d do. He’d understand.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Julie pulled her phone from her pocket and turned it back on. It had been nearly twenty-four hours since she’d left Nashville. Perhaps it was wrong, but she sincerely hoped Spencer had texted and called numerous times looking for her.

  She silenced the ringer as text after text filtered in.

  As she scrolled through the messages, without reading them, she realized she’d gotten what she’d wished for. Spencer had been texting her, from what she assumed, was the moment Tiffany had told her she’d gone home sick until midnight. However, there were no texts from him this morning.

  Surely he was mad. After all, she’d…

  She stopped thinking at all.

  An Oregon number had caught her attention and she’d opened the text.

  Tears instantly filled her eyes as she saw the pictures of the house she’d put so much planning into going up in flames.

  The final text from that number simply said, I WARNED YOU.

  She needed to call the police. This had gone too far. She was innocent, absolutely innocent.

  Julie opened the middle drawer on her desk to pull out a pen and a pad of paper. In the middle drawer was another manila envelope, which she hadn’t put there.

  Slowly, with unsteady hands, Julie pulled the envelope from the drawer. There were photographs inside along with a note.

  She dumped out the contents and sifted through them. They were pictures of her and Spencer.

  Her heart lodged in her throat.

  They weren’t even just pictures of her and Spencer in the past few weeks. They were from the past five months.

  Someone who had been in on the negotiations took a lot of time to snap pictures in exactly the right times.

  She’d walked through the door with him, and ten others, but they weren’t seen. He’d told her something nice and she’d looked up at him and smiled. They’d caught that.

  At a luncheon where Mr. Grayson addressed the employees, Spencer had sat next to her. As they’d applauded his speech, she’d leaned in reach for her water. Spencer had put his arm around the back of her chair to talk to the person on the other side of her. But in that very brief moment it looked as though he’d put his arm around her.

  There were at least twenty different shots where she and Spencer looked intimate or engaged with each other during the course of the merger.

  They had spent a lot of time near each other.

  She studied the pictures with a different set of eyes now.

  He had gazed at her, joked with her, and touched her gently on the arm.

  Her breath grew more rapid. They’d had a few nights where they argued points of the merger in her office. She sat where she did now and he in the chair across from her.

  Just him and her.

  Just a few late nights.

  Oh, she’d been blind.

  The letter caught her attention.

  Give her what she wants. It will only get worse for you.

  It was Steven’s handwriting. Was he blackmailing her? And for what? She hadn’t done anything with Spencer until the papers were signed. Why were they doing this?

  Panic and fear paralyzed her as she saw a shadow walk in front of her office window. The blinds were closed. They couldn’t…

  Then the doorknob twisted and the door pushed open.

  Carson Grayson stood there in a dark gray suit, arms crossed, and eyes narrowed on her.

  “Funny thing. I just got a phone call that said you’d be here.”

  She was absolutely speechless. No one knew she was there. Though looking at the pictures scattered on her desk, someone knew she’d be coming.

  Julie stood as Carson walked in and shut the door behind him.

  “Sit down, Ms. Jacobson,” he demanded as he walked toward the desk. “We’re going to talk.”

  “I don’t have anything to say to you. I need to…”

  “Sit!” His voice echoed through he room.

  Julie did as she was commanded to do.

  Carson Grayson paced in front of the desk. “You’re breaking and entering, Ms. Jacobson. Not a good position for a lawyer.”

  And it was that lawyer part of her that kept her completely quiet.

  As he turned to pace the room again, she reached for her phone, which was atop the desk. The man fuming in front of her was big and mad. She’d never known a Grayson to be violent, but then again she’d seen what Libby had done to her marriage and to Spencer’s corporate build.

/>   Someone needed to know where she was—just in case. There was no telling what this man would do to her if he was anything like his sister.

  As far as she knew he wasn’t on the payroll. Why was he even in the office?

  From under the desk Julie turned down the volume on the phone. Next she needed to figure out who to call. The police? No, she was the one who entered the building with Claudia’s pass.

  Spencer? What if he was so mad at her he didn’t answer?

  Tiffany. Even if Tiffany was mad at her, she was sure she’d answer. She’d be looking for a good fight. What she hoped was she’d get what she needed.

  Aware that Carson was fueling up to lash out, she discreetly pressed Tiffany’s name on the phone and watched as the timer began on the phone call.

  “Carson, I just came back for a few of my things. I don’t know who told you I was here…”

  “Shut up! You think you can manipulate me and my family like this?”

  “I don’t understand.”

  He moved toward the desk in such a fury that Julie stood to protect herself if needed and dropped the phone to the floor.

  She wasn’t going to acknowledge it. All she could do was hope it was still on and Tiffany was on the other end.

  Carson slapped his hands down on the top of her desk and looked at the photos that were scattered across it. “You’ve been a busy girl.”

  “I found these. Someone is trying to blackmail me.”

  That caught his attention. “You’re sleeping with the boss and now someone wants something. Is this a family trait?” His voice rose.

  “I never had anything to do with Spencer Benson before the merger. These pictures are out of context.”

  “And I’m going to believe you?”

  Julie kept her lawyer cool intact, even if her womanly instincts were to shudder and nearly cry.

  “I don’t exactly know what is going on. So I myself don’t know what to believe.”

  He leaned in closer. “Here’s what I believe. I think you screwed my family over. You negotiated a merger that was to be cut and dry and you dragged it out. Then you ran off and started sleeping with the new boss all the while you were embezzling from the company. Does that about sum it up?”

  It summed it up. It sounded horrible. And only part of it was true.

  Julie pushed her shoulders back and looked Carson Grayson in the eye. “The merger was thoroughly negotiated to get the most worth out of the company for the Benson family and the best sale price for the Grayson family.”

  “It was a cut and dried deal.”

  Julie nodded. “Your sister asked me to look into a few things during the negotiations. I was very thorough.”

  He ran his tongue over his teeth. “My sister has nothing to do with this company.”

  “I was under the impression you didn’t either.”

  He narrowed his eyes again. “That changed.”

  She wondered if Spencer knew that. “That’s news to me,” And she assumed completely untrue. “But, regardless of who is involved, I looked out for the Graysons on behalf of your sister.”

  His lips turned up at the corner. “What would make you do anything for my sister after your husband hit on her?”

  Julie’s jaw tightened. “Hit on her? Carson, your sister and my husband were having an affair. I caught them myself.”

  There was a slight flash in his eyes, but they darkened quickly as they bore into her.

  “Libby isn’t like that. People only make her out to be like that.”

  This man was dense.

  “Carson, I think we should call Spencer and even your grandfather and talk this out. I’ve never done anything to harm this company. My job was to protect it.”

  Now he moved around the desk toward her and she backed away as he came at her.

  “You want me to believe you’re the innocent one here?”

  Julie continued to back around the desk. “I just want to sit down and talk.”

  “Where is the sixty-grand you stole from us?”

  “I didn’t steal it.”

  “It’s in a bank in your name.”

  “How do you know that?”

  Her head was spinning. There was so much in that one sentence that shocked her and incriminated her.

  He came at her full force now, his hands grabbing hold of her shoulders as he slammed her back against the wall. Her head rammed against it and her eyes clouded before she could blink them clear.

  “You took what was ours.”

  “I didn’t,” the words were now weak and came out with panic filling them. “I didn’t do that.”

  “The money is in your name. You’re a goddamned liar.”

  He slammed her back again.

  “No.” Now she was sobbing and her head throbbed. “I didn’t do anything. I’m innocent.”

  “You’re a liar!”

  She watched as his large hand swung up in the air and started toward her, but the door opened again. Carson let go of her and stepped back, letting her wobbly legs give out beneath her sending her to the floor.

  Spencer and Mr. Grayson stood in the doorway.

  Spencer had his phone to his ear. “I found her,” was all she heard him say before he moved to her.

  Behind Mr. Grayson, two armed security guards moved in. With one bony finger Mr. Grayson gave a direction to Carson to sit, and he did.

  “Are you okay?” Spencer’s voice was soft against her cheek.

  “My head. Throbbing.” Even her sentences weren’t full ones.

  “Can you get up?”

  She wasn’t sure she could. Everything pounded in her skull and all she could do was blink heavily.

  “Just sit a moment,” he said with his hand on her back.

  Mr. Grayson moved into the room and Spencer stood. “She’s hurt,” he said and Mr. Grayson gave him a slow nod.

  He moved toward his grandson who stood at least six-foot-four, Spencer presumed, but sulked in a chair like a little boy.

  “Why?” Mr. Grayson’s voice was low.

  “Grandfather, she stole from us,” he said weakly. “Look.”

  Carson pointed to the pictures on the desk.

  The elder Grayson walked around the desk and looked at the photographs.

  Spencer wondered what they were and where they’d come from. Mr. Grayson moved them around with his hand and then picked up a note.

  His eyes narrowed as he read the note and directed his attention to Carson. “Where is your sister?”

  Carson lifted his head. “She was in Nashville the last time I saw her,” he cowered from the man who was decades older, but obviously had control over him.

  Spencer balled his fists ready to lean in on the attack against Carson. He stopped as his side as his cell phone buzzed in his pocket where he’d put it as he’d knelt down by Julie. He pulled it out and looked at the screen.

  JULIE’S PHONE IS STILL ON. LIBBY GRAYSON IS IN CUSTODY FOR ARSON.

  He smiled at the text message. Tiffany was a good friend and Julie was a genius.

  He’d flown to Oregon to, hopefully, get some answers. Her house was empty and his leads stopped there. Only by chance had he gone to his office at PLL and Tiffany had called to tell him Julie had called, but all she could hear was people arguing. Spencer was sure that was exactly what she was supposed to hear.

  Until the room was clear, he’d leave her phone connected without anyone knowing.

  “Sir, I just received notice that your granddaughter is in custody for an arson fire on one of my build sites.”

  Both sets of Grayson eyes turned to him, but the elder set turned sad. Mr. Grayson shook his head. “I wish I were surprised.”

  “Grandfather, this isn’t Libby’s fault.”

  Mr. Grayson’s head rose as he looked at his grandson. “I’m sure your explanation is better?”

  He stood, but each security guard placed a hand on his shoulder pushing him back down in his seat. Carson’s head looked from side to side. “Gran
dfather, please.”

  “I’m waiting to hear from you,” he said simply.

  “It’s not Libby. It’s Julie. You have to believe me.”

  “I haven’t believed much of anything you or your sister has said for the past fifteen years,” the old man’s voice shook with anger.

  “Look at the pictures, Grandfather. She’s been having an affair with Benson.”

  Mr. Grayson looked down at the pictures again. “These are very interesting,” he said. “You know what’s interesting? I was there the whole time.” He picked up one of the pictures and threw it at his grandson. “I’m old. I’m very old, but I’m not stupid.” He walked around the desk until he stood in front of his grandson.

  “Do you think I’d sell my company to a man with no ethics?” His voice rose and the large man before him cowered into his seat. “I have known the Bensons and the Harts for years. I trust them, Carson.”

  “Grandfather, they played you.”

  “No, not him. Not Spencer Benson.”

  “Julie and her husband,” Carson retorted quickly. “They’re the ones not to be trusted. You need to do something.”

  Mr. Grayson leaned against the desk. “If the problem is with my law staff then why is your sister in custody for arson?” Again the old man’s voice rose.

  Spencer moved toward the desk. “Sir, I need to get her to a hospital and have her looked at.”

  The protest came from behind him. “Spencer, I’m fine.”

  He turned to see Julie on her hands and knees pushing herself up.

  Spencer hurried to her side and wrapped a protective arm around her waist. “You should sit.”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  He held Julie in place as she reached for the back of her head. “Sir, I have an account in my name with over sixty-thousand dollars in it.”

  “Julie,” her name slipped from Spencer’s lips in nearly a disappointed sigh.

  She looked at him and then back to the elder Grayson.

  “I didn’t expect that,” Mr. Grayson said.

  “I didn’t either,” she replied. “The paperwork was in my mailbox when I arrived back in Oregon. Sir,” she said making sure his attention was directed at her, “I didn’t open that account.”